The way I see it, is that Mercedes perfected the suspension that enabled them to get a lot of downforce with little rake. This influenced their decision going into 2017 with a long wheel base car (more surface area) and again using the same principal of low-rake. Then the suspension got banned.Gerhardsa wrote: ↑08 Mar 2018, 11:58I doubt Merc will have the problems to the same degree they had last year.
That car was blisteringly quick, but they suffered a lot due to their suspension being outlawed. Imagine how they would have stomped everyone if their suspension was not banned. (same with Red Bull)
I suspect that is mainly what made the car a "diva" because the way the tires were being worked was different after the suspension ban.
In 2017, they struggled most in hot conditions on aggressive surfaces and softer tire compound. They were lucky and benefited that for many races, Pirelli went very conservative with their selected tire compounds. Conservative as in, they chose harder compounds than necessary, because how the tires would handle the new downforce levels and loads was a big unknown. It was one of the big lessons learned last year by Pirelli. This year, to "spice up the show", it is planned that they will go more aggressive again, to encourage more pitstops per race. Thus, the tires have moved to softer compounds. The medium is last years soft etc. Adding to that, we now even have a hyper soft tire for some of the street circuits.
So while Mercedes may have learned a lot last year in knowing what setups to use to work the tires right, they still have the same aero philosophy, the same base car, but the tires will be more aggressive. IMO this will hurt them and indications are that they are struggling more on the softer compounds than their competitor (e.g. the blistering we see on pictures).
I hate to say it as a Lewis/Mercedes fan, but it will mean little having the best package if you can't properly work the tires and get the potential out of them. The tire situation will work in RedBulls favor, and Ferrari's too.
